Tag: bahrain

Night Eleven Over Iran: 4th Us Soldier Dead, Ceasefire Collapses As Tehran Hits Jordan, Bahrain And Kuwait Bases

For the eleventh consecutive night, U.S. Central Command launched strikes on Iran. The Pentagon confirmed a fourth American service member killed in Iranian attacks in recent days, according to CBS News, with President Trump scheduled to receive the remains at Dover Air Force Base Wednesday morning in a dignified transfer.

CENTCOM said Tuesday night’s strikes, completed at approximately 8:15 p.m. ET, targeted aircraft hangars, drone storage facilities, and operations centers across Iran — all aimed at degrading Tehran’s ability to threaten commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. Per CENTCOM’s own statement, Iran has now attacked more than 30 commercial vessels since the conflict escalated, threatening hundreds of mariners and disrupting one-fifth of the world’s oil and gas supply that once transited the strait.

Iran escalated in parallel. The Iranian military claimed in statements carried by state media early Wednesday that it had targeted U.S. military facilities in Kuwait, Bahrain, and Jordan — the same Al-Azraq base in Jordan where three American soldiers were killed earlier this week. Jordan’s military said five Iranian drones and three missiles were all intercepted. Bahrain sounded missile alert sirens as Iranian projectiles targeted the island nation, home to the U.S. Fifth Fleet. The New York Times confirmed the claims were reflected in U.S. military tracking.

Against this backdrop, diplomacy quietly died in Islamabad. Iranian Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni visited Pakistan — a key mediator — in an attempt to resuscitate the collapsed 10-day ceasefire proposal, per Republic World. But Trump, speaking from the Oval Office on Tuesday, shut the door on talks: the U.S. had “no interest in meeting,” he said, and signaled that future strikes could target areas near Iran’s uranium enrichment sites.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, speaking at the ASEAN foreign ministers’ meeting in Manila, warned that Iran’s demand to collect tolls in the Strait of Hormuz would set a precedent threatening freedom of navigation across the globe — explicitly mentioning the South China Sea. “If we create a precedent where a nation state can control an international waterway, charge a toll, and blow up ships if you don’t pay — that will repeat itself in other parts of the world,” Rubio said. Energy markets took note: Brent crude climbed above $91 a barrel Tuesday, with U.S. pump prices averaging $4 a gallon.

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Bahrain Accuses Iran of Targeting Civilians as U.S. Launches More Strikes

The Bahrain Defense Force (BDF) said on Monday that its air defenses “successfully intercepted and destroyed several treacherous Iranian aerial attacks.”

Contrary to Tehran’s claims that its attacks are limited to American military bases, the BDF said Iran is launching “unlawful missile and drone attacks targeting civilians.”

The BDF denounced Iran’s attacks as “treacherous” and stressed that “deliberate use of missiles and drones to target civilians and private property constitutes a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law.”

Iran launched missiles and drones at Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, and Oman over the weekend as the United States continued to hammer air defenses, radar sites, missile depots, and attack boats controlled by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), a designated terrorist organization.

Iran listed Sheikh Isa Air Base in Bahrain, Prince Hassan Air Base in Jordan, and Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait among its targets, and claimed that it destroyed stores of fuel and munitions at the bases, along with America’s Patriot air defense missiles. The respective defense ministries of the four Gulf Arab countries said they intercepted all of Iran’s weapons without any major damage to the bases used by American forces.

Kuwait said on Sunday that an Iranian drone struck one of its offshore oil platforms, injuring one worker, and three Kuwaiti sites near the Iraqi border were damaged. Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) also reported intercepting Iranian drones and missiles.

The IRGC released a statement on Monday that described its attacks on neighboring countries as “retaliatory missile and drone strikes” against the United States.

For one of the first times, the IRGC publicly admitted that it has attacked civilian ships in the Strait of Hormuz – which triggered the massive U.S. campaign of airstrikes – but insisted it was somehow justified in its piracy.

The IRGC claimed it “stopped two ships because they had switched off their tracking systems and taken an unauthorized route through the Strait of Hormuz, endangering traffic in the strategic waterway.”

In reality, Iran has done much more than “stop two ships,” and one of its illegal attacks left a Qatar liquid natural gas (LNG) tanker crippled off the coast of Oman with an engine room fire.

“In the first phase of their response to the aggression, the valiant fighters of Islam set ablaze several large missile depots and fuel storage facilities at Jordan’s Prince Hassan Air Base in a missile and drone strike,” the IRGC statement said.

“In the second phase of their retaliatory operation, the IRGC Aerospace Force struck key helicopter maintenance and repair facilities, a hangar housing a P-8 electronic warfare aircraft, and the command-and-control center for the US military’s drone operations at the US base in Sheikh Isa, Bahrain,” the statement continued.

The “third and fourth phases” were Iran’s attacks on Kuwait. The IRGC claimed it “completely destroyed fuel storage tanks and a Patriot air defense system” at the Ali Al Salem airbase, an “FPS strategic radar system” at the Ahmad Al Jaber airbase, and two HIMARS missile launchers plus “ammunition depots stocked with missiles” in an alleged ground forces attack.

“We will not allow a rogue, child-killing army from the other side of the world to continue its illegal interference there,” the IRGC declared.

The Iranian regime and U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) issued conflicting statements on Sunday about whether the Strait of Hormuz is “closed.”

“The Strait of Hormuz is open to all vessels seeking to lawfully transit the international waterway,” CENTCOM said.

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Bahrain Intensifies Crackdown On Shia Communities, Arrests Dozens Over Alleged IRGC Links

Bahrain’s Interior Ministry announced on Saturday the arrest of 41 citizens, including multiple Shia religious leaders, over alleged ties to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

The ministry said security services uncovered the alleged network through “investigations, security reports, and previous Public Prosecution cases related to espionage involving foreign entities.” The detainees are accused of “espionage involving foreign entities and sympathy with blatant Iranian aggression.”

Around 30 Shia Muslim clerics were among the 41 arrested, as the Gulf monarchy intensifies a campaign of raids and arrests predominantly targeting Shia religious figures and seminary teachers in Bahrain.

The arrests mark a new security escalation by Manama and form part of a continued policy of restrictions against clerics in the country. The Bahrain News Agency reported that legal proceedings are now underway against the 41 detainees.

Earlier this week, Bahrain stripped three lawmakers of their seats in parliament after they publicly criticized the monarchy’s crackdown on dissent over its support for the US–Israeli war on Iran:

In a vote in Manama on Thursday, the Bahraini House of Representatives revoked the memberships of Abdulnabi Salman, Mahdi al-Shuwaikh, and Mamdouh al-Saleh. The three lawmakers publicly opposed the monarchy’s move last week to revoke the citizenship of 69 Bahrainis and their families, accusing them of “sympathizing with Iran.”

Bahrain has a majority Shia population but is ruled by the Sunni Al-Khalifa royal family. The kingdom hosts the largest US naval base in the region, home to the US Fifth Fleet.

That decision came less than two weeks after Bahrain revoked the citizenship of 69 people over alleged support for Iranian retaliatory attacks on the country.

The Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy described the move as “dangerous” and a “blatant abuse of power,” saying the individuals had not been publicly named and that their legal status remained unclear.

Since the launch of the US-Israeli war on Iran on February 28, Bahrain has escalated a sweeping domestic crackdown tied to alleged support for Tehran and opposition to the country’s western alignments.

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Patriot missile involved in Bahrain blast likely US-operated, analysis finds

An American-operated Patriot air defense battery likely fired the interceptor missile involved in a pre-dawn explosion that injured dozens of civilians and tore through homes in U.S.-ally Bahrain 10 days into the war on Iran, according to an analysis by academic researchers examined by Reuters.

Both Bahrain and Washington have blamed an Iranian drone attack for the March 9 blast, which the Gulf kingdom said injured 32 people including children, some seriously. Commenting on the day of the attack, U.S. Central Command said on X that an Iranian drone struck a residential neighbourhood in Bahrain.

In response to questions from Reuters, Bahrain on Saturday acknowledged for the first time that a Patriot missile was involved in the explosion over the Mahazza neighborhood on Sitra island, offshore from the capital Manama and also home to an oil refinery.

In the statement, a Bahraini government spokesperson said the missile successfully intercepted an Iranian drone mid-air, saving lives.

“The damage and injuries sustained were not a result of a direct impact to the ground of either the Patriot interceptor or the Iranian drone,” the spokesperson said.

Neither Bahrain or Washington has provided evidence that an Iranian drone was involved in the Mahazza incident.

The use of costly, advanced weaponry to defend against attacks by far cheaper drones has been a defining feature of the war. The incident points to the risks and limitations of this strategy: The blast from the powerful Patriot, whether or not it intercepted a drone, contributed to widespread damage and casualties, while Bahrain’s air defenses were unable to prevent strikes that night on the nearby oil refinery, which declared force majeure hours later.

When asked for comment, the Pentagon referred Reuters to Central Command, which did not immediately reply to questions.

In response to questions sent to the White House, a senior U.S. official said the United States was “crushing” Iran’s ability to shoot or produce drones and missiles. “We will continue to address these threats to our country and our allies,” the official said, adding that the U.S. military “never targets civilians.” The official did not answer specific questions about the Patriot attack.

On February 28, the first day of U.S. strikes on Iran, an Iranian girls school took a direct hit. Investigators at the U.S. Defense Department believe U.S. forces were likely responsible, Reuters first reported, possibly because of outdated targeting data, two U.S. sources previously told the news agency.

Video of the aftermath of the Mahazza blast in Bahrain verified by Reuters shows rubble around houses, a thick layer of dust in the streets, an injured man and screaming residents.

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NYT Reports First ‘Confirmed’ Attack by Gulf Nation Against Iran, as Missiles Were Fired From Bahrain Against the Mullahs’ Regime

Will the Gulf states turn on Iran?

It does seem at this point that the first attack by an Arab nation against the Iranian mullahs has already happened.

The New York Times reported (behind a paywall) that they were able to verify video showing ballistic missiles launched from Bahrain toward Iran.

“A video verified by The New York Times shows ballistic missiles being launched from Bahrain in the direction of Iran, in what appears to be the first confirmed instance of an attack on the Islamic Republic originating from a Persian Gulf country since the war began.”

By hosting the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet, Bahrain has been accused by Iran of enabling US military operations.

The footage was originally shared on X by a user calling himself Egypt’s Intel Observer (@EGYOSINT), and was geolocated to northern Bahrain, near the airport.

NYT’s Experts identified the launcher for at least one missile as a U.S.-made M142 HIMARS truck.

“That launcher is a U.S.-made M142 HIMARS truck, according to Wes J. Bryant, a national security analyst who served in the U.S. Air Force, and Fabian Hoffmann, a missile specialist at the University of Oslo.”

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